In the US, individuals are protected against discrimination by the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments of the constitution. The amendments explicitly prohibit the federal government and states from violating a person’s right to due process and equal protection of the laws. A number of acts have been passed by Congress over time such as the Equal Pay Act, Civil Rights Acts, and Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Other employment discrimination laws cover areas to do with race, gender/sex, national origin, pregnancy, disability, religion, genetic information, military affiliation, bankruptcy, and citizenship status.
Definitions
Adverse Action – The law refers to an official legal action intended for disciplinary reasons based on incriminating information. Adverse action negatively affects the employee because it denies them certain benefits through punishments that may include temporary suspension, reduction in grade, or termination.
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Clery Act – The act requires all institutions of higher learning under federal sponsorship programs to collect and avail data and information on crime and security within the confines of the institution. Established in 1990, The Jeanne Clery Disclosure apparently protects state security agencies against suits related to breach of confidentiality and spying policies.
Confidentiality - Confidentiality clauses in employment policies and procedures are intended to protect organizational information that is considered top secret from misuse or disclosure, which can be grounds for dismissal or a legal suit for already terminated employees.
Discrimination – This law protect all individuals in employment or seeking employment from being passed up for employment related benefits or victimized based on specific personality or character traits. The law offers legal procedures for filing suits for alleged discrimination.
Disparate Act – The labor law refers to policies and practices in employment whose effects on a given protected group of people are more adverse than in others even though application rules appear to be neutral.
Disparate treatment – The US labor law refers to unequal treatment towards an individual on the basis of their protected status, and can be used by employees to prove illegal employment discrimination.
EEOC – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the body mandated to enforce federal employment discrimination laws by investigating alleged charges of discrimination against covered employers, usually those with 15 or more employees.
Harassment – Workplace harassment law refers to policies and practices against offensive, inappropriate, or coercive unwelcome or unwanted behavior deemed to create a hostile working environment or influence adverse decisions.
Intimidation – The law refers to policies and practices that protect employees from intentional behavior sought to make them susceptible by threatening to cause them physical injury or harm.
Quid Pro Quo – The law refers to practices that discourage favoritism at the workplace through giving an advantage only to employees willing to give something in return.
Reasonable Person – The law of reasonable person often used to establish liability refers to reference made about a hypothetical individual whose skill, care, and judgment in conduct are used as a standard for determining culpability of alleged suspects breaching the law.
Retaliation – This law prohibits employers from punishing applicants or employees for advocating for equal employment rights or participating in workplace investigations of alleged discrimination or harassment.
Title XI – The federal civil rights law of 1972 protects individuals from discrimination based on sex in all programs receiving funding from the government. All people are entitled to equal participation and benefits from such programs their sex notwithstanding.
VAWA – The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 is a federal law that sought to improve community involvement and criminal justice responses to sexual violence against women including dating violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking.
Welcomeness – This is a sexual harassment law that is used to establish if the victim of the alleged act contributed towards encouraging the perpetrator to commit the act through perceived receptiveness to behavior that would otherwise be regarded as inappropriate hence unwelcome.
Retaliation is a common occurrence among employers who want to keep their employees silenced about inappropriate and illegal conduct at work. For any employee, the challenge lie in proving retaliation indeed occurred in a court of law. To overcome the hurdle, it is important to take recordings of all incidents believed to be retaliatory with emphasis on the what, when, who, and where. In addition, an employee may require to establish the details in their personal file to highlight possible outcomes of the retaliation such as demotion, or negative reviews. Once the evidence the employee is entitled to have is copied, a complaint can be lodged to the person responsible for handling the case that led to retaliation. The employee can ask for the case to be amended to include retaliation. Talking to a lawyer may be a necessary precaution given that the job may already be on the line. The lawyer will assist in coming up with an action plan and if need be, file charges or a lawsuit with relevant state or federal agencies.
Talking with co-workers about another co-worker’s disability or medical condition is inappropriate. In most instances, disabled or ill employees may disclose personal information to be accommodated or access disability benefits. Such employees have a right to confidentiality, unless they give permission for their medical information to be shared. Innocently talking with co-workers about others’ disability or medical condition out of care or compassion can be misconstrued as an act of discrimination or harassment and is likely to raise legal issues about disparate treatment.
Research Dates
| Dates |
Laws |
| June 10, 1963 | The Equal Pay Act (EPA) is a US labor law that amended that Fair Labor Standards Act. The aim of the act was to remove the wage disparity that was an outcome of gender discrimination. |
| July 2, 1964 | Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal civil rights and labor law makes it illegal for employers to discriminate employees or applicants because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It also prohibits use of unequal voter registration requirement and racial segregation in schools, employment and public places. |
| 1967 | The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) applies to employers with at least 20 employees. The civil rights law prohibits discrimination of employees aged over 40 years on the basis of age in promotions, hiring, compensation, discharge, or employment privileges. |
| June 23, 1972 | Title IX of Education refers to a federal civil rights law later renamed Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002. The law prohibits discrimination of any US citizen from participation or benefits from government funded programs on the basis of sex. |
| 1974 | The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) addresses the plight of veterans who served in active duty in war events that qualify for a campaign badge. The law requires employers with federal contracts of $25,000 (amended to $100,000) or more to apply equal opportunity and affirmative action policies to qualified veterans. |
| July 26, 1990 | The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits employers from discriminating job applicants or employees with disabilities. The objective of the law is to ensure equal access to rights and opportunities by the disabled. |
| May 21, 2008 | The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits employers to discriminate employees or applicants because of their genetic information. The law, which came into effect in November 21, 2009, stipulates that genetic information should not be a basis for making employment and recruitment decisions. |
| January 1, 2009. | The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) made changes to the definitions of disability to all titles of the ADA including the employment sector, the programs and activities of state and local governments, and private entities regarded as public places. |
| January 29, 2009 | The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is a federal statute that amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law required that the 180-day statute limitations for filing equal pay lawsuit on pay discrimination begin with each paycheck affected by the discriminatory action. |
State and City Case Laws
Discrimination based on height or weight: State: Michiga . Locality Cities: San Francisco and Santa Cruz, and the District of Columbia. The law: Michigan’s Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act. The law was passed in 1975 (Kristen, 2002).
Law protecting victims of domestic violence or sexual assault to take time off of work for specific reasons related to the violence: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Washington, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Philadelphia, and Oregon (Legal Momentum, 2010).
EEOC Web Site
The press releases report indicates that the most recent case is: Massimo Zanetti Beverage to Pay $65,000 To Settle EEOC Sex Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit. In its investigations, EEOC charged that the employee was terminated after they reported sexual harassment. Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA, Inc, a company that operates a roasting facility in Suffolk agreed to pay $65,000 and settle other relief for sexual harassment and retaliation (https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/8-20-18.cfm).
The assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights is Kenneth L. Marcus . The Office for Civil Rights offers internships through the Student Academic Internship Program (SAIP). The Office for Civil Rights offers internships on volunteer basis and students are required to have qualifications in civil rights, grants review, and health information privacy for placement into the respective departments.
The Office for Civil Rights data page has information on different data about schools and reported variables such as enrollment demographics, school expenditures, teachers’ experiences among others, which can be analyzed for comparison. There are also special reports for schools and districts for English learner, discipline, and educational equity. The search for Cascades High School in the state of New York showed total enrollment to be 237 students, for the survey year 2015, which is the latest data available. The school did not have type 1 classification.
It is worth noting that federal and state governments have laws that vary. While everyone is required to follow the federal laws, there are local and state discrimination laws that employers must observe within their areas of operations. However, it is important to understand that there are a number of factors associated with discrimination laws that add to the complexity of handling complaints (Doyle, 2018). For instance, adverse action law may be invoked to deny an individual employment-related benefits by a negative action based on incriminating information on records. One can argue that a law such as adverse action violates an individual’s confidentiality right, which requires personal and other details to be kept secret. However, some laws counter such an argument, for instance, the “Clery Act” that requires all institutions of higher learning participating in the federal financial aid program to maintain and disclose data on campus crime and security.
Under the circumstances, an employee may face significant challenges in proving disparate treatment in relation to employment discrimination that he or she has experienced. The EEOC comes in handy because of its role in reviewing complaints by employees to determine if the alleged act meet the stature of limitation requirements in order to file a suit in court (Doyle, 2018). The EEOC often relies on the law of reasonable person to establish liability. Overall, there are diverse employment discrimination laws covering all possible incidents that violate equal access to employment or benefits. However, complainants must follow appropriate legal channels in handling such incidents. This would ensure fair treatment to all and such cases would be minimized so as to create a conducive atmosphere for every individual in the society. The prospect of considering retaliation can only complicate the situation. In line with this, it is the responsibility of individuals to respect each other’s rights and adhere to the set down rules and laws. This would bring about peaceful co-existence, hence development.
References
Kristen, E. (2002). Addressing the problem of weight discrimination in employment. Cal. L. Rev. , 90 , 57. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3481306.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Af8c9449e4a8cd6519dc47766176ae5f4.
Legal Momentum. (2010). State law guide: Employment rights for victims of domestic or sexual violence. Retrieved from https://www.legalmomentum.org/sites/default/files/reports/employment-rights.pdf.
